Addressing the need your product fulfills

After you’ve differentiated yourself, you must use the information you gained

in the differentiation process to address the concerns and needs of the con-

sumer. Determine what problems your product or service addresses: Are you

saving consumers money, time, or energy, for example? They don’t care if

you have the best packaging or if they can find you in every discount store.

They want to know what you can do for them personally.

 This step is truly all about the consumer. It’s about first positioning your prod-

uct by addressing a problem and then being the solution to that problem. You

can focus on one of the following factors as a positioning strategy in this step:

 ✓ Product attributes: Attributes often include price, quality, features, style,

and design of your product. The attributes are specific to consumers and

are often the basis for making a purchase decision. Many times a product

can be positioned in terms of two or more attributes simultaneously.

 ✓ Usage occasion: When using this strategy, you work to position your

product with a specific use or application. For example, you might say

something like “This stain stick can be used when trying to get a stain

out of clothes.”

 ✓ Users: With this strategy, you associate your product with a particu-

lar user or group of users. For example, “This hands-free headset is

designed for users of cellular phones.”